Arizona Ends Purdue’s Season in Elite 8 79-64

SAN JOSE, CA.–The season ended for the Purdue Boilermaker men’s basketball team Saturday night in the Elite 8 with a 79-64 to the Arizona Wildcats in San Jose at the SAP Center.

Arizona led by as many as 18 and outscored Purdue in the paint 40-24.

Four of the five starters for the Wildcats finished in double figure scoring. Koa Peat led the way with 20 points.

In his final collegiate game, Purdue guard and Westfield graduate Braden Smith scored 13 points to go along with seven assists and five rebounds.

Oscar Cluff led Purdue in scoring with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The Boilermakers were down 19-12 with 12:37 left in the first half. They outscored Arizona 26-12 over the rest of the half to go into the locker room with a 38-31 lead at halftime.

Arizona used a 16-3 run early in the second half to erase the halftime deficit and take a six-point lead on a 3-pointer from Anthony Dell’Orso.  From there, Arizona had the game in hand.

Purdue has made at least the Sweet 16 in four of the last five years. Their season ends with a record of 30-9. That’s the second most wins ever by a Boiler team.

The senior class set the school record for wins in a four-year span on Thursday (March 26), winning its 117th career game (117-31) with the Sweet 16 win over Texas. The 117 wins are third most in Big Ten history by a senior class (2013 Ohio State – 123; 2014 Ohio State – 119).

Arizona moves on to the Final Four in Indianapolis. This is Arizona’s first Final Four appearance since 2001.